Gluten Free Easter: Paleo Banana Muffins Recipe Review

Paleo banana muffins

As well as making a carrot cake for Scott’s mum I also made these amazing banana muffins for Scott’s dad. I chose another gluten free recipe because I didn’t want to contaminate the kitchen with flour but also because it is better for you. I imagine the cake and muffins will get shared around the family, always a scary moment when it’s your own cooking!

I found these muffins on ‘With Style and Grace Blog’, an absolutely stunning gluten free recipe blog. I have found loads I want to cook and the photography is inspiring.
I was really drawn to this recipe because there is no added sugar and it includes flax seeds, it is also sweet enough to be a nice present…healthy yet a treat!

I was really pleased with how crumbly they were!

I have read bits and bobs about the Paleo diet and I found it really interesting, but its not something I am going to be trying any time soon. It has some amazing health benefits but at the moment cutting out meat, dairy and gluten is enough for me to concentrate on!

You need really ripe bananas for banana bread, I quite enjoyed picking out the oldest looking bananas knowing I may have saved a few from being thrown away at the end of that day. I personally can’t stand eating ripe bananas by themselves but in baking they add a necessary sweetness.

I think the different sizes make them rustic…..

I doubled the recipe which made 15 and most made it up to the family but a few got eaten straight away…and I snuck 2 in the freezer to have next week

I’d definitely recommend these, they were really easy to make and they’d be perfect for a breakfast or snack!

Gluten Free Easter: Nigella’s Carrot Cake Recipe Review

I had to include this photo because it just looked like a giant pac man cake!

What is everyone doing this Easter holiday? Me and Scott are travelling up to the midlands (north of the Watford gap so I say we’re going up north but its technically the midlands!) to visit his family which I’m really looking forward too. I wanted to take something a bit more personal than the usual Easter eggs so I decided to bake cakes! (although we still have plenty of brightly coloured chocolate eggs for the kids, somehow I think a gluten free Venetian carrot cake may be disappointing to them!) Scott’s mum has celiac disease which means she cannot eat wheat and gluten so this was a perfect time to have a go at some gluten free baking.

Carrot cake feels very easter friendly and I found this Nigella Lawson “Venetian Carrot Cake”  recipe when I was browsing online. I decided to try it because it was so different to cake recipes I had seen before. It uses ground almonds, carrots, sultanas soaked in rum and olive oil instead of butter!

Moist and crumbly

The problem with baking a cake as a present is that you can’t cut it open or taste it without ruining the look of it. Because this recipe was so different to anything I’d tried before and i really wanted it to be perfect I actually made two. The cake pictured here is my first attempt which, although delicious, had its flaws. I found that my oven was too hot so the top darkened too far and the middle was a little dense. Also I felt it could do with a little more carrot.

For my second cake I turned the oven down from 180c to 160c because mine is a fan oven and I think that is why my first cake cooked too quickly. I also checked it after 25 mins, 30 mins and finally took it out after 35 mins. Maybe I was a bit paranoid but it was a much lighter golden colour and it felt cooked through.

Gluten free and full of flavour!

I found some parts of the recipe really frustrating as it was not very descriptive, for example at one point it says “…when well whisked, fold in the ground almonds…” As someone who is unfamiliar with using olive oil in a cake I had no idea at what point my mixture would be “well whisked’. I kept whisking but it never turned the fluffy pale cream a cake with butter would so I just went along with it.

A part from that each stage was quite simple to follow and I felt I was getting each stage done quickly and correctly. Which is a change from the often messy rush my baking can turn in to the end result is a deliciously sweet, crumbly, carrot cake which is completely different from any other carrot cake I have ever tried.

What’s your favourite baked good for Easter? I can’t resist hot cross buns freshly toasted with lashings of butter

Friday Challenge 2012: A look back at what I’ve learnt

I’m afraid to say that I’m finished with my Friday Challenge feature for 2012! When I first set out doing it, it was mainly because I had started reading a lot more food blogs/ food magazines and I realised that there were loads of things in the food world which I had never cooked before!! I found myself leaving comments over and over again all saying the same thing “I’ve never tried that before but it looks nice”, so I thought well why not just get off my bum and try it instead of bookmarking it for the future. I’m the sort of person who likes a bit of structure in my life so Scott had suggested that I use my new-found desire to learn to set myself more of a cooking routine and create interesting blog posts along the way, which hopefully I did over the last 10 months

Some of the ingredients such as tofu, polenta, gnocchi and artichokes were all things that I had simply never cooked before. Tofu was my first choice because it seemed an obvious vegetarian ingredient. I quickly learnt after a few failed attempts at the Wagamama’s tofu soup that you need to press tofu otherwise it all falls apart. This challenge for me was as much about learning the balance of Asian flavours as it was about actual cooking techniques for tofu.

Sweet Marinated Tofu and Noodle Salad. My first ever Tofu recipe

Unlike tofu, which I had at least eaten in restaurants before, polenta was something I had no idea how to make or what it even tasted or felt like! Now I cook it all the time and I feel I have the confidence to be a bit more creative with it. My favourite polenta own recipe is still the first one I created because I felt it was when I began to get confident with flavours!

Spanish inspired black olive polenta with a smokey tomato sauce

Tomato soup with Basil Gnocchi Dumplings

I really enjoyed the artichoke challenge but I think I could have learnt a lot more. In the end it was more about the flavour rather than using a whole fresh artichoke in different ways!

Baked Artichoke and Quinoa Salad with Watercress

Others topicss I chose for my Friday Challenges were techniques or recipes which I had cooked a handful of times but I really wasn’t sure if I had done it correctly, such as risotto, cakes and bread. I know I still haven’t quite mastered the art of baking bread yet but that has become like my own personal Everest, and I’m still tackling it so I promise I will get my own recipe out there soon! Cakes on the other hand were given two months because I just had so much fun!

Coconut, Cherry and Dark Chocolate Cake with a Flaked Almond and Brown Sugar topping

I found risotto interesting because I discovered Delia’s Baked risotto which meant there was no boring standing and stirring bit. But in the end I stuck with tradition and veganised it which worked really nicely. I always avoid risotto in restaurants because it’s too rich with lots of cream and cheese so it was nice to have a fresher taste.

Many Herbs and Peas Risotto

Finally the other topics I chose were chocolate and spices, both chosen because although I use them all the time I had not developed a proper understanding of how to use them in the best possible way. Chocolate was fun because I have eaten ALOT of it before but not really cooked with it, other than melting it to drizzle on things. In the end I kind of used lots of techniques I’d learnt all in one dish -

White Chocolate and Raspberry Mousse in edible chocolate cups

Curried Coconut Quinoa with Tofu and Green Beans

I’m stopping for the year now not because I think I’ve learnt everything there is to learn – far from it!! – but because I just want to focus on a few other things going on and it has become more of a hassle than a fun experience. I have another big feature planned for next year sort of along the same lines which I am really excited about!! But you’ll find out about that nearer the time mwahaha.

Thank you to everyone who let me cook their recipes and helped me learn all these new techniques! x

Coconut, Cherry and Dark Chocolate Cake

I know it’s not the end of the month but today I made my own recipe of a cake and had to share it! I might try another of my ideas next week or I may call it a day on the cakes because I am having to visit the gym more frequently

Coconut cake with a cherry and dark chocolate layer topped with flaked almonds and brown sugar

I absolutely loved the Bakewell cake I made last week with the fruits layered in between the cake sponge mix. I decided to take this idea but put my own flavours into it, Cherries are at the end of their season and I picked up a large bag from my local market for cheap, if you can’t get cherries any more and don’t want to wait untill next summer then any berry would work just as well. Preferably a sweeter berry such as a raspberry or strawberry.

I got the idea for the brown sugar topping from a comment left by Loustar on my courgette and lemon cake and I loved it, so much nicer than a sweet icing (which this cake definitely did not need) and a bit more interesting than icing sugar. When I sprinkled the brown sugar on top it looked beautiful like glitter! This topping is completely optional but does look so rustic and pretty.

Love the beautiful cherries piled on top!

I had enjoyed the flavours of the ground almonds in the BBC Bakewell recipe and I decided that with the rich chocolate and cherries I would also need an element of the cake which would break through those flavours. I decided on desiccated coconut because it is quite earthy and would top off the chocolate beautifully (any one else love bounty bars??)

I also couldn’t help but pile flaked almonds on the top for that crunch! This topping is also optional but delicious, maybe it would also work with the coconut sprinkled on top!

The cherries and chocolate ooze out from in between the cake sponge

Makes 1 cake to serve however many you fancy!

140g Unsalted Butter
140g Caster Sugar
140g Self Raising flour
70g desiccated Coconut (not the sweetened variety)
3 Medium Sized Eggs
300g unpitted cherries
50g Dark Chocolate chips (or grated chocolate if you’re using a bar of chocolate)
Brown Sugar for decoration

NB: Pitting the cherries is a very mundane job if you don’t have a fancy little gadget that does it for you. I found halving the cherry then digging the stone out of one side was the easiest and quickest. Put a handful of whole cherries to one side to decorate the top.

Pre heat the oven to 170c (fan oven) and butter/ line a 22cm/ 9 inch diameter cake tin. Lining it is annoyingly time-consuming for someone inpatient like me but if you are wanting to take it out of the tin easily this is an important part of the process.

In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar using an electric whisk (you can use a food processor if you have one but I don’t so I find that putting a clean tea towel over a bowl will help stop the mix flying everywhere. It’s insanely unhealthy but also impossible not to just dip a finger in at this point! but yes maybe don’t eat the mix quite yet!

Once the butter and sugar is light and fluffy sift in the flour and add the sugar, coconut and eggs. Mix well untill everything is combined and you have a moist cake batter.

Tip half of the cake mixture into the cake tin and spread out to form one even layer. Cover with a layer of pitted cherries and evenly sprinkle over the chocolate chips then top the whole lot with the rest of the cake mixture and gently smooth it down using a spatula or the back of a spoon (or your finger) so that the cherries are completely covered. At this point if you are using the flaked almonds then sprinkle those over.

Put on the middle shelf of your oven for 30 minutes. Check the cake is cooked but inserting a knife or poker and if it comes out clean then the cake is done. It should also be golden on top.

Leave it too cool in the tin then remove and place on a wire rack untill it is completely cooled. Sprinkle with brown sugar and pile some fresh cherries on top.

surprise colours when you slice into the cake

Blackberry Bakewell Cake (BBC Goodfood recipe): Friday Challenge!

I can’t believe I have gone from only making a very small handful of un successful cakes to now baking good cakes every week! Is it because I have more patience now to follow a recipe? or because I really want to learn this time? Whatever it is I am really enjoying it and have a feeling it may be something I continue to practise, especially over the christmas period! (I know I did it – September and I’m thinking about christmas!)

The cake before being sliced to reveal the fruits

So this cake is actually named “Raspberry Bakewell cake” but I have a freezer full of blackberries from my garden so it seemed this was a perfect opportunity to use them. I think the cake was delicious with blackberries, slightly less sweet than a raspberry maybe but a lovely subtle match to the almond flavours. You can get the recipe by following this link

It uses a mix of self raising flour and ground almonds to give it a more crumbly texture and a lovely almond flavour then it is topped with flaked almonds to give it a little crunch. I had thought the flaked almonds would burn on the top of the cake however they came out just lightly toasted which was a relief.

Once sliced in to you can see the layer of fresh blackberries in the middle of the sponge

What I liked about this cake was that the outside was a little crunchy and the outside layer of cake went abit crispy, then the inside is beautifully moist and crumbly with the sweet fruits giving so much flavour. I really think this is be far the best cake I have made so far!

It is very simple to create this layered fruit effect, simply make a cake batter and pour half into a lined cake tin, cover the mix with a single layer of fruits and then top with the remaining cake mixture, top with flaked almonds and bake in the oven. The main difficulty I had was trying to spread the cake mixture over the top of the berries without moving all the berries or ending up with some berries on the top. Some poked out of the side but when I looked at the original picture they had the same effect so I’m happy!

It’s a natural way to bring colour to a cake and it would look beautiful served at any tea party. I’d like to try it with pears or apricots or apples with a toffee sauce, the ideas are endless!

Soo pretty inside the cake!

What I have learnt about Cake?
You can mix different types of flour with ground almonds to create a more crumbly texture with a slightly more natural rustic flavour. Also adding fruits such as berries in the middle of the cake mix makes it moist but not as wet as the courgette cake I previously attempted.
I was also really happy with the effect of the flaked almonds, I have loads left over from this recipe so I will definitely be using those again soon!

Oh I also really really liked the lack of icing in this recipe, I’m not a fan of icing at all and would rather get the sweetness from fruits as done in this recipe

Frosted Courgette and Lemon Cake (BBC Goodfood): Friday Challenge

I’ve once again dived into the foodie world of BBC Good Food to find some inspiring recipes for my Friday Challenge. I originally was going to make a Twix and Banana cake from a cookbook I have at home but my dad gave me a big bag of vegetables from his garden including some big courgettes so I decided to incorporate those into this weeks cake challenge.

Look at the size of it! I only needed half for my cake

I’ve always loved the idea of using vegetables in baking, I’ve seen beetroot and chocolate cakes, parsnip breads, potato scones and now courgette cake. The recipe can be found following ‘this link’. The recipe had good reviews with some good tips on how to prepare the courgettes however when I made it I don’t think it worked quite to plan.

The recipe calls for you to put the butter, sugar, grated and drained courgettes and other ingredients into a bowl and beat until a creamy batter, but mine became really wet and the butter separated from everything else. I decided to drain some of the liquid out of the bowl and carried on beating but it was still far too wet so in the end I just added the flours anyway and carried on.

A slice of the cake – you can see the courgette but it’s not a strong taste!

This is probably why my cakes are quite flat but they actually tasted amazing and the texture of the cake was crumbly yet moist. The lemon flavour is quite intense because of the glaze and the lemon in the icing but it wasn’t too sweet against the actual cake mixture. I think I will definitely make this again however next time I will make sure I have drained my courgettes completely to avoid another soggy batter mix. I also have a feeling that home grown courgettes would be more watery than shop bought but that’s just a theory.

What I have learnt about cakes:
When adding something like a vegetable or fruit to a cake mixture the level of moisture can effect the texture of the crumb, too wet and you end up with a very dense moist cake. Drain the grated courgette as much as you can! I also learnt that adding a glaze to the cake as it cools can really lift the flavour balance and add more moisture (not that this cake needed that!)

Ok so next week would normally be my own recipe but I’ve been enjoying making cakes and I still have loads to learn so I’m going to continue it for another month! The not only can I really practise the cake I want to make, I can also take my time with it and make it perfect!

A Classic Victoria Sponge (LEON Baking and Puddings recipe): Friday Challenge!

I had a bit of a disaster when I set my self ‘Bread’ as my friday challenge subject a few months ago. I learnt how to make a pretty decent bread roll but when it came to adding my own flavours and trying to be abit creative I came up short and realised that it would take a bit more practise. With that in mind I decided to try the whole baking thing again but this time with cakes!

I like cake but I’m definitely more of a savoury person so I thought this would be a challenge for me, but I can honestly say that after eating this victoria sponge I am starting to think maybe I like cake much much more than I realised…

I decided to start with a Victoria Sponge because it is the staple cake recipe which has stood the test of time. It doesn’t have too many flavour additions so I can learn how to bake a standard sponge without being distracted by extras and well it is quintessentially British as it was named after Queen Victoria so it seems apt for these Olympic times! Also since I met Scott he has been asking me to bake him his favourite Victoria Sponge and all this time I have promised one day I will, and now 5 years later I finally have! Even if I did tie it in with some blog cooking, to be fair that’s even better for him as I’m now going to make 3 or 4 more cakes for the month.

The recipe is from my current favourite cookbook range ‘LEON Baking and puddings’ (The book I also made gooey chocolate cakes from). The recipe was really simple to follow and although it took a little bit of work, such as alternating adding the eggs with the flour and beating each time, I can honestly say that this was really quite easy to make! You can buy this book and others from the LEON range here. The recipe for this cake is in the Baking and Puddings book.

A big wedge of Viccy Sponge

I was so impressed with the height of this cake and also how light and fluffy the cake was inside, I’m guessing this was from the amount of times I had to beat the cake mix before baking it in the oven. I didn’t have any vanilla essence so I added some maple syrup to the mix, I was scared this would ruin it but it just added the sweetness that the vanilla would have.
I was alarmed at the amount of sugar and butter went into this cake (330g of each!!) but I guess it is meant to be a treat..to be shared…

The inside of my Victoria Sponge

What I have learnt about cakes:
From my first attempt at baking a cake I feel like this is going to be quite acheivable, it was quite simple and I think as long as you follow the instructions pretty closely then you can’t go too wrong. I left my cake in the oven for 30 minutes whereas the recipe called for 40 minutes however mine is a fan oven and I know from cooking other things that it usually takes a little less than the recommended cooking time. I also remember from watching “The Great British Bake Off” that you shouldn’t open and close the door often as you will cool the oven down and your cake might sink so I only opened my oven twice, once to check and the second time to take it out.
I would like to see what would happen when you mix fruits or nuts into the cake mix before baking, would it be too soggy? Would it tip the fluffy cake off balance? If anyone has any suggestions please let me know

A Rather Grown-up Chocolate Rice Krispie Cake

I know what you were instantly thinking…ooh alcoholic! But unfortunately no I have not made alcoholic krispie cakes, although if you were to soak the dried fruit in a liquor of your choice first I wouldn’t tell any one!As long as I can have one too

I decided I needed a sweet fix which wouldn’t be too unhealthy and without the need to actually bake anything and I instantly thought back to the easiest cake in the world to make (which was also the most fun when we were younger) ……rice krispies cakes. These are simply made by pouring rice krispies into a large bowl, melting chocolate in a seperate bowl and then mixing them together. Place scoops of chocolatey rice krispie mixture into muffin cases and set in the fridge. You could add all sorts such as marshmallows and smarties but for us adults I thought why not add some dried fruits and “Superfoods”…

I had recently invested in some amazing varieties of Linwoods ‘Superfoods’ which includes sachets of organic milled flaxseed, shelled hemp, milled flaxseed mixed with nuts, milled flax with seeds and goji berries and finally milled flaxseeds with cocoa berries.

I have also tried stirring these into my porridge but I think this (covered in chocolate) is my favourite way of eating them. These have been great for me because it’s not something I would add to every meal but the mini sachets at a reasonable price has meant I have been able to experiment without buying a big bag of one flavour.

We also had quite a bit of dried fruit left over from our wedding (we had tiers of wheels of cheese with cake stands next to it filled with dried fruits and grapes) so I had been thinking of a way of using these up too. There isn’t a strict recipe for these cakes as I have changed it everytime I make them so I’m just going to give you a few suggestions of the combinations we have enjoyed. Choose a couple of ingredients from each category and have fun!

Cereals:
Rice Krispies
Branflakes
Cornflakes
Granola
Oats

Dried Fruits: Chop into small pieces
Dried Cranberries (craisins)
Raisins
Dried Figs
Prunes
Dried Apricots

Mixed Nuts: Chop into small pieces
Brazil nuts
Almonds
Macademias

Superfoods:
Milled Organic Flaxseed
Shelled Hemp
Milled Flaxseed, Almonds, Brazil Nuts, Walnuts
Milled Flax, Sunflower, Pumpkin and Sesame Seeds and Goji Berries
Milled Flaxseed, Cocoa and Berries

Mix all of your chosen ingredients from the above categories together in a bowl then choose a type of chocolate (any type will do!) and melt it in a seperate bowl. Pour it into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix well. I have found that 150g of chocolate will make around 10 cakes. Then fill the muffin cases with the mix and put in the fridge to set.

Chocolate: (I have always used Green n Blacks)
Dark Chocolate
Ginger Chocolate
Cherry Chocolate
Milk Chocolate
White Chocolate

Valentine-Birthday, Coronation Chickpea wrap recipe and some Minecraft cakes!

I hope you all had a lovely Valentines day – I always do… but that’s because Valentines day is also my birthday! When I was single I didn’t care about Valentines because I was out rocking it up for my birthday and now I’m married it’s a double celebration

This year I spent the day making an afternoon tea for us to enjoy in the evening, my mum had sent over a bottle of Rose bubbly from France which washed it all down very nicely! It’s also my husbands birthday in 3 days and I had planned to make him a cake in the style of one of his favourite online games – Minecraft, however he’s on a stag do that day now so I decided to incorporate the Minecraft idea into the afternoon tea. I made square cupcakes decorated like ‘Creeper’ faces and the rest I decorated like the cakes you can make within the game.

I got the recipe for the sponge cakes from An Irish Village Pantry blog and it really is a fail safe recipe for a newbie baker like me! It was the best feeling to make everything from scratch! I used a lime jam to help the icing stick to the cake which gave each bite a little citrus kick.

Here are a few pictures from my day:

Chocolate coated strawberries (White choc and Milk Choc), Grapes and CherriesSandwiches (top layer are ham for the hubby), bottom later are cheese and tomato wraps and my own recipe Coronation stye chickpea wraps: see recipe below

Corontation Style Chickpea wraps – Serves 2

80g Chickpeas
35g Dried Apricots
40g Raisins
8 tablespoons Natural Yoghurt (Drained in a colander lined with kitchen paper for around 1 hour)
1/2 teaspoon Curry Powder
2 teaspoons Mango Chutney
Small bunch of Coriander
3 Spring Onions

Chop the Apricots into small pieces and slice the sprig onions. Mix all the ingredients together and have in a wrap with some spinach and sliced tomatoes. These were delicious and a lovely alternative for an afternoon tea!

I hope you all had a lovely day whatever you chose to do for it. I had a truely great day